Refrigerator.



PATENTED D160. s, 1907.

H. JOHNSON.

REFRIGERATOR.

APPLIOATION FILED 001. as, 1904.

WITNESSES.

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HENRY JOHNSON, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

REFRIGERATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 3, 1907.

Application filed October 29. 1904:. Serial lilo. 230.46%

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRYJoHNsON, a

citizen of the United States of America, residing at Detroit, in thecounty of Wayne and State of Michigan, have invented certain new anduseful Improvr-nnents in Refrigerators, of which the following is aspecification, reference being had therein to the accompanying(,lra'wings. This invention relates to that type of refrigerator inwhich a cabinet is provided with a top compartment for holding ice tokeep the interior cool for preserving articles of food placed in aconn'iartment below and my invention hasfor its object to make it morehandy and convenient to replenish the cabinet with ice and collect andremove the drip therefrom and also to facilitate keeping it clean and ina sanitary condition.

To this end. my invention embodies certain improvements in theconstruction, arrangement and operation of the cormaartment for keepingthe ice, in the means for collecting and removing the drip from themelting ice, and the means for promoting a circulation of air inside thecabinet all as more fully hereinafter described and shown in theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure 1, is a vertical section in aplane parallel. to the front face of the cabinet substantially asindicated by the line :ra: in Fig. 2; Fig. 2,.is a vertical section in aplane at right angles'to Fig. 1 as indicated by ine 1 y in Fig. 1; Fig..3, is a detached plan of the ball valve in the bottom of the ice pan;Fig. 4, represents the trapped outlet of the drip pipe as shown in Fig.1 on a larger scale.

A represents the cabinet built with heat insulating walls, top andbottom in the usual n1anner,B represents the door in front'giving accessto the whole interior, 'C are cleats secured to the end walls of thecabinet for sup porting a snilablc open work partition C adapted for thestorage of provisions dividing the interior into a top compartment D anda storage compartment E, the latter of whicl1 1nay be provided withshelves in any desired manner.

The top compartment is provided in one of the sidesol' the cabinet witha door F giving access to the compartment and G is an ice pan removableand insertiliile through this door. This pan occupies the rear portionof the top compartment and is of suitable size and form to receive andhold the usual supply of i cc given a cabinet of this de- The positionof the pan. within the compartment is fixed by means of two parallelangle guide rails a and the pan is formed on the underside with.corresponding parallel guide flanges b which ride upon the guide railsand guide the pan in withdrawing and inserting it through the door.

In the bottom of the ice pan near the back wall of the cabinet a dripopening c is formed which leads into a conical cup (I inclosing a ball.valve 0 all so arranged that the valve when free to seat itsell'prevents the (.lri'pping. When the pan is in position however this ballis upheld by means of an upwardly curved. cross barfplaeed in the funnelshap d month of the waste pipe H which lQ-(tlVlt'f the drip. from theice pan and discharges it through an outlet below the bottom ol." thecabinet into a drip pan. 1. The position of the drip pan be low thewaste pipe is also fixed by means oi parallel, angle guide bars 9whichsnpport it above the iloor removable and ins "tible endwise throughan opening n'ovidcsl in "the skirting, the opening being hidden by apiece ll of the skirting being hastened to the drip pan and carrying asuitalile handle i.

The drip pan is closed. on top except for a. small portion at the runside below the Ullhlfill'flt'ilil the \i'asto pipe... This ontlct istrapped by means cl a cup j which is mount ed upon. the end of a leverl: pi tally sue pended at Z from. the bol tom oi the cabinet. This leveris pressed by a spring a the ten: sion of which operates to press thecup 1 firmly against the outlet of the waste pipe and thereby seal thesame against the discharge of the drip, a llexible washer m being placedupon the bottom of thecnp to form a tight seal. When lhe drip panhmvever is in position the raiscl'l margin it around the opening on theop of the drip pan. engages scription.

lowers the cup and holds the outlet open, the cup acting merely as atrap. but when ever the drip pan is withdrawn for the purpose ofemptying it, the outlet kept closed and thus the dri is prm-"ented fromwetting the floor. By closing the drip pan on top there will be littleliability of spilling any water in withdrawing it.

To provide for an ell'icient circulation of the air within the cabinet,I make the front wall of the ice pan lower than the rest, thus directingthe cooled air to pass down over the top of this lower wall and createan ascending current which passes to the top under the free end of thelever and therehfi" that the waste pipe has no What I claim is z-- ofthe cabinet through the space 0 left between the rear wall of the icepan and the cabinet. By stopping in the upward passage of air in thespace ieft between the ice pan and the door F by a cutoff p over thisspace and by making the ice pan long enough 'tmeXtend against theopposite wall of the cabinet, no disturbing air currents can arise.

My construction is simple and the devices described make it very to therefrigerator, the advantages of my removable ice pan in a sanitary sensewill 1 the cabinet having a it will be seen partition dividing thecbinet into an upper also be easily recognized.

bends and can readily be cleaned its whole length from above and theball 0 is also removably held in place by fingers o made of flexiblemetal the upper compartment be otherwise removstrips orthe b able. c

Having thus fully described my invention,

ll may 1. In a refrigerator, an ice pan freelyinsertible andwithdrawablc therefrom, a drip nozzle depending from the under side ofthe icepan and adapted to discharge the drip therefrom and a ball valvein said nozzle controlling the outlet therefrom and adapted When seatedto project below the discharge end of the nozzle.

2. In a refrigerator having its cabinet horizontally divided into anupper and a lower compartment, the'combination of an 1ce:,pan 1n the uper compartment freely insertible and withdrawable through an 0 ening inone side of the cabinet, a door 0 osing said opcning parallel guides onthe bottom of said compartment adapted to sup ort and guide the ice paninto position wit in the compartment, a drip nozzle projecting from theunderside of the pan in to conduct the drip from the ice pan into awaste pipe below, a ball valve in said nozzle controlling theoutlettherefrom and adaptedwhen seated to project below the nozz e andmeans adapted to unseat the ball valve when the icepan. is in position.

3. In a refrigerator having its cabinet horizontally divided into anupper and a lower compartment, the combination of an icepan extendingwithin the rear portion of the upper compartment freely ins'ertible andwlthdrawable through a door opening in the side of the cabinet, parallelguides upon which said ice pan is supported in prescribed positionwithin the compartment, a drip nozzle pro ectmg from the underside ofthe pan near its rear wall, a waste pipe fixed in position beneath theice pan to receive the drip fromsaid nozzle, a ball valve adapted toseat within the discharge and project below the nozzle when seated, andan arched bar fixed above the inlet of the waste opening and adapted touplift the end of the nozzle convenient to attend ball from its seat.

4. In a refrigerator, the combination with horizontal open work and alower compartment, the upper compartment being provided with a door atone end, an ice pan within the rear portion of and adapted to 'be spacedfrom the walls thereof,- parallel guides adapted to removably supportsaid ice pan and space the same from the Walls of the upper compartmentin prescribed position within 'the compartment, said ice an formed witha front wall of lower height than its sides and ends and having thespace between its rear wall and that of the cabinet in communicationwith the space above and below the ice pan, a projection at the top ofthe ice nan at one end adapted to close the space between it and theadjacent end of the upper compartment and a cut-ofi at the opposite endof said 11 per compartment adapted to corresponding y close the s acebetween it and the ice pan, said end 0 the compartment being providedwith a 'door for the removal of the ice pan.

5. In a refrigerator having its cabinet divided into an upper icecompartment and a lower storage compartnient, an ice pan removablysupported in guides within the upper compartment, a waste'pipe below theice pan and an automatically operating valve controlling the passage ofthe drip from the ice pan into the waste pi c, said valve adapted toclose automatical y when the ice pan is removed, and means'toautomatically open, said valve when said ice pan is returned. 'ito itsprescribed position in the cabinet.

In testimony whereof l. aflix my signature in presenceof two witnesses.

HENRY JOHNSON.

Witnesses THOMAS S, LON'GSTAFF, LE'1S E. .ijLANnnns.

